lol ok sorry for the cheesy title. LOL!
anyway this is something i’ve been following rather closely, and for those who don’t know (which probably means almost all singaporeans, i think), the US copyright royalties board issued a revamped royalties payment plan for all internet radio servers, which is outrageously high. needless to say all internet radio servers cried foul and appealed for a reconsideration of such a decision.
just yesterday, internet radio was dealt by yet another blow when the CRB denied a rehearing from the broadcasters, claiming that there being no evidence to warrant such a hassle. this spurred most broadcasters to gather round and start an intense “save net radio” movement.
actually such a movement was already in place since 2nd march, when the draconian rates were passed, but with negligible impact on the ruling at all. firstly, the petitions were disorganized, with signatures ranging from repeat posters to spammers. secondly, everyone was still banking on the fact that the state congress could help them appeal, but it’s quite obvious they weren’t gonna do anything about it.
what is interesting now is that this current movement is now dominated by big giant corporations, like yahoo music, aol radio, accuradio. independent broadcasters and music hobbyists from live365 are nowhere to be seen. not that this is a bad thing, because firstly they have money to lobby and fight (for at least a good year or two), and big names usually pack a bigger punch as well.
the first thing they’re going to do is to organise direct talks with soundexchange – the evil culprit behind the decision. i am actually quite afraid that this will really spell the end of live365, unknown radio amongst the rest.
the problem although big names like yahoo music is also protesting against the drastic royalty hike, these corporations are essentially streaming internet radio for profit.
on the other hand, live365 broadcasters pay to broadcast, without earning anything. no kidding, they are really doing this because of their passion. there are no advertisements whatsoever. this allows them to stream any form of niche music because they do not expect to clock enough listeners to pay for them in the first place.
it’s likely that any direct talks of this nature will ultimately result in a win-win business deal on both sides. but live365 will not stand to gain from this.
in the worst-possible scenario, live365 will be reduced to 10 or so stations (from the current 10000), and accuradio and radio aol will have genres catering only to the mainstream. already i see this happening, when i listened to the so-called Indie channel on Accuradio and heard Hinder’s Lips of an Angel.
if that is going to be the case, then what is the difference between Internet radio and terrestrial radio?
as of now, i listen to Warrior Radio (a mixture of adrenaline-filled songs, taken from MGS ost, LOTR amongst others), Gamers Nostalgia, Medieval RPG Music, all available on live365. radio stations operating for profit will never have such wonderful stations because the number of listeners is simply too low. to be fair, radio aol does offer a final fantasy channel, but that’s about it. if a business deal is reached, there will still be genres like 60s, 70s, alternative, dance, but more niche areas like 20s big band, 50s rockabilly, and truly independent artists (NOT hinder or radiohead or panic! at the disco) will become extinct.
in the meantime, all the internet radio corporations are abuzz online with various suggestions on what to do if all else fails. some ideas that came up include setting up offshore servers (which would exempt them from royalties, apparently), playing only independent musicians who are not under any label, and even going underground. there are also overseas-based legal sites which allow streaming for free ike mercora. and fortunately, all these are actually viable options.
i hope everything turns out well in the end. long live internet radio.
meanwhile……..
riaa has so far overlooked the recent advent of numerous “legal” music sites on the net, like imeem, which pose an even greater threat to their livelihood. after the issue of internet radio has settled, these sites will be their next target. hard to blame as well since there has really been a rapid drop in physical record sales these days compared to the past.
if one chooses to be optimistic, hopefully an equilibrium will be reached where consumers can listen to music online for free and much of the revenues of music industry come from companies behind such business-run “music portals”. but these will take a hell lot of analysis and studies, and may probably take several years to take effect, or may never even happen. for all it’s worth, i’m not a business student and this is just a personal conjecture.
anyway, here’s an update on what i’ve been up to apart from following the events of internet radio and the truly unfortunate shooting. i spend the rest of my time mostly studying, or trying to study. but i know myself – i am going to do below expectations for my exams this sem.
oh yea, went to mushroom pot yesterday. the food is not bad, just a little expensive.
